Amid protests, Senate poised to pass health care for vets exposed to toxic burn pits
After a series of delays and emotional protests, the Senate is expected to vote Tuesday night on a bill that would help veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
Schumer announced that the Senate will begin voting on the PACT Act at 5 p.m., with votes on three Republican amendments before a vote on final passage of the bill. Republicans agreed to the deal.
“I believe it will pass and pass this evening,” Schumer said during his weekly press conference.
The PACT Act passed the Senate earlier this year, but after a quick fix in the House required the bill to be voted on again, 26 Republican senators changed their votes and blocked swift passage of the act last week, sparking outrage among Democrats and veterans groups.
Comedian and activist Jon Stewart has become the face of this legislation, joining veterans in protest outside the Capitol for the last several days. He’s harshly criticized Republicans and demanded action from lawmakers.
“America’s heroes who fought in our wars outside sweating their asses off with oxygen, battling all kinds of ailments” while Republican senators were sitting “in the air conditioning walled off from any of it,” Stewart said during a press conference in front of the Capitol Building on Thursday. “They don’t have to hear it, they don’t have to see it. They don’t have to understand that these are human beings.”
Stewart is in the chamber tonight for the historic vote, along with about 50-75 vets and supporters of this bill.
Veterans and supporters of the PACT act demonstrate outside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Aug. 2, 2022.
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Republicans said they did not object to the new funding for veterans in the bill, but wanted the opportunity to modify a “budget gimmick” they say could be exploited by Democrats. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has led Republicans in their opposition, insisting on an amendment to change language in the bill he says could free up $400 billion in existing funds already being used for veterans by shuffling the money inside the budget to use for unrelated purposes.
“What matters to a veteran whose ill because of a toxic exposure is that the money is there to cover what he needs, that’s what he should be concerned about and that will be there,” Toomey said Tuesday. “What I am trying to limit is the extent that they could use a budget gimmick to reclassify spending and go on an unrelated spending binge.”
Republicans attempted to close this perceived budget loophole during a Tuesday night vote, but the amendment failed to pass.
Sen. Pat Toomey walks out of the Senate Chambers during a nomination vote in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Aug. 1, 2022. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to leave for August recess with action on several pieces of legislation still currently outstanding, including votes on Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the PACT Act, and the Respect for Marriage Act.
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Two other amendments from Sens. Rand Paul and Marsha Blackburn also failed to pass on Tuesday evening. Paul’s amendment aimed to reduce aid to other countries besides Israel over the next 10 years to offset some of the bill’s costs, while Blackburn’s amendment proposed allowing toxic-exposed veterans to go directly into community care.
Schumer on the floor called today’s development “good news.”
“Our veterans across America can breathe a sigh of relief,” Schumer said on the floor. “The treatment that they deserve and have been denied by the VA because of all kinds of legal barriers and presumptions will now be gone.”
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